Several decades ago, 70% of Chinese families watched the Chinese women’s national volleyball team easily beat a number of team while the number watching the Spring Festival Gala. However, audiences showed dissatisfaction with their current performance in the 2026 Volleyball National League.

The sports jersey has China’s red color, however the players’ faces were unfamiliar to much of the audience. This added uncertainty to the following matches. 2026 is a crucial year for the Chinese women’s national volleyball team. This is a historic moment of major generational renewal. Famous players include Wu Mengjie, the outside hitter and team MVP in the 2024-2025 season, and Li Yingying, a “six-rotation” player, who is heavily relied upon for her well-rounded skills. Her unique style brought Team China to a new milestone. Unfortunately, these two important players suffered from injuries and missed many matches in the current Volleyball Nations League. Therefore, most of the players are very young, with an average age of just 21 years old, making them one of the youngest squads in volleyball. Generation renewal was met with heavy competition requirements. Team China faced unusual failures, even losing to much weaker teams, such as an unexpected 0-3 loss to the Czech Republic.

The Chinese women’s national volleyball team was one of the top teams in women’s international volleyball and one of the most popular and successful squads in China. From 1980 to 2019, this team achieved its peak with ten championship titles in five World Cups, two World Champions, and three Olympic titles. This famous team has become an unforgettable memory for many Chinese people during the 1980s. The movie My Motherland and Me reflects how Chinese people, from young kids to elderly people, loved this squad. The clear differences from the golden era, full of collective memories and the untouchable achievements of the 1980s, to the current losses and uncertainty, explain why Chinese audiences are dissatisfied with the undoing of the team’s perfect history.